Cooperative Game Theory and the Measurement of Political Power

Abstract

Many studies using the political preference function (PPF) approach to measure the political powers of agricultural interest groups have been criticized for offering little theoretical justification for their methodology (Zusman, p. 447; Beghin and Karp, p. 51; Bullock 1994). It has been claimed that cooperative game theory developed by Nash (1950, 1953) and Harsanyi (1963, 1977) provides a formal theoretical basis for PPF methodology (Zusman; Rausser and Zusman 1992, forthcoming; Zusman and Amiad; Beghin; Beghin and Karp). In this paper I present a brief discussion of the geometry of cooperative game theory and discuss and critique studies that have attempted to apply it to empirical studies of the political economy of agriculture.